


Contingency

by Medie



Category: Terminator Salvation (2009)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-24
Updated: 2009-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-05 05:36:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Medie/pseuds/Medie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She'd done this once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Contingency

**Author's Note:**

  * For [musesinspiration](https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesinspiration/gifts).



> much thanks to my beta.

_"What am I going to tell your men?"_

Kate's own words echoed in her head as she moved back inside. The heavy fall of her step had nothing to do with the advancement of her pregnancy. More the worry gnawing at her with every breath. This felt wrong. She couldn't put a finger on why, but that was the problem, wasn't it?

They'd been relying for years on the warnings of the Terminator. Years later, she could still close her eyes and see his face. Feel the inhuman strength of the hand that had picked her up. They'd carried his warnings down through the years and now...

She shivered and the baby kicked. Absently rubbing the spot , Kate looked back in the direction John had gone.

_"What exactly am I in this future of yours?"_

"You're John Connor's spouse and second-in-command."

She shook her head. It was – Kate stopped herself with a mental sigh. She couldn't say it was impossible. She was, in theory, talking to a robot about the end of the world. Finding out that she was supposed to marry a crazy guy with a penchant for stealing vet supplies didn't really compete. Still, she couldn't just nod and accept like a good little girl. She'd never taken anything at face value before, why start now for a robot and a – well, for him_. "No, I..."_

Her skeptical gaze strayed to John's face. He was too thin, eyes lost, but still intense. Nothing of the kid she remembered. She frowned.

He frowned back. "What?"

She shrugged. "You're a mess."

"Hey, you're not exactly my type, either."

Kate smiled. "Shows what he knows," she said, looking down. The baby had no opinion on that one and, not for the first time, she let herself worry about the what ifs. She and John had lived beneath the shadow of What If for years. Since Judgment Day when John had swept into her life with two machines on his heels and the world had gone to hell, leaving them with a Terminator's warnings of a future gone horribly awry.

Months trapped in Crystal Peak listening to voices over the radio calling for help, asking advice, giving it when they could, sitting in silence when they couldn't, and hashing out everything the Terminator had told them.

In the silence, Kate shivered and closed her eyes. John died. The T-101 had killed him. She'd reprogrammed the Terminator and sent it back to save him, to kill the T-X, and to warn them both. She'd done that. She'd done that with the full force of the resistence behind her.

They were supposed to follow her like they did him. Anywhere and through anything. They'd been working to that end ever since. If John had died once and she'd assumed complete control then it could happen again. They had to proceed as if it would. The only certain things in their lives were the timelines they'd successfully wiped out and rewritten.

At least until Skynet rewrote them again.

She rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes. It was too soon. They were still building. The T-X had, by all accounts, done damage. It had successfully wiped out a large portion of John's lieutenants. To hear the Terminator talk, aside from John himself, Kate was the only survivor of that Kill List. They'd won a war with those people. Beaten Skynet back.

Now --

Kate sighed. Now.

Now John was walking into a future unplanned. They didn't know anything about this. The chances – "I don't even know how to do it yet," she murmured. There were no Terminators to practice on. The T-600 series was beyond basic. It bore little resemblance to the T-800 still lurking in Skynet's strategic databases.

Worse, _it_ hadn't been found yet. They didn't even know if Skynet had successfully unlocked time travel.

If John died now there might be no chance of fixing it.

Kate bit her lip and looked up to spy a flicker of movement in the shadows. She smiled. "You know, if I didn't know better, Derek, I'd think you were stalking me."

"John said look after you," Derek replied, a sheepish look on his face. He knew how she'd respond to _that_. "So, this is me, looking after you."

"Without me taking your head off?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I pick my battles. You win most of them anyway."

Predictably, she huffed a laugh and then immediately felt guilty. Derek didn't know. They kept so much from him, from everyone, but this was different. This was _Kyle_. Derek's brother was at the top of Skynet's new hitlist and he had no idea. He had no idea Kyle was even still alive.

She breathed deep. Derek deserved to be there. "I wish you'd gone with him." And yet she she didn't. Of all of the people they'd surrounded themselves with, she trusted Derek the most. She wanted him with her if the impossible happened. If the unthinkable happened.

"You'll need me here," he said.

John was coming back, she had to believe that, but she had to plan, too. She'd done this once, apparently. She could do it again.

She just didn't want to.

"Yes, I will."

She didn't want to, but she would.


End file.
